Devil's Darkness
by Belle The Mutant Dragon
Summary: There’s a new mutant in Sunnydale. Who is it? What powers does he or she have? I suck at summeries, just read it.


Title: Devil's Darkness  
  
By: BelleDraco  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own them, if I did, I would not be writing fanfiction in between my school work and band practice. I intend no profit, or copyright infringement. Buffy the Vampire Slayer owned by Joss and Mutant Enemy, X-Men belong to Stan Lee and marvelous Marvel. Just read it. I think it ok.  
  
Feedback: Are you kidding? You have to ask? Yes please. Here at DragonKnight0615@cs.com  
  
Spoilers: BtVS: Someabouts in fourth season. X-Men: I'm using the X-Men Evolution time line but with a few tweaks, like Gambit is in there and I'm using the mansion from the movie.  
  
Summary: There's a new mutant and he's in Sunnydale. Who is it? (that's kinda obvious, but I don't care.) What powers does he or she have?  
  
Now, enough with the pleasantries. On with the show!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
Westchester, New York - Xavier Institute for Gifted Youth~  
  
"Whad'ya want, Professor?"  
  
"Ah, Logan, thank you for coming. Have a seat." Logan sat down as Professor Xavier proceeded to tell him why he was called.  
  
"Cerebro has detected a new mutant. I want you to take a team to retrieve him and bring him back to the mansion to start training with the others," the Professor said with his hands resting in his lap.  
  
"Uh-huh, and who you want me to take with me on this little excursion? One- eye? Jean?" disgust filled his voice at the first, hope in the last.  
  
"No, I believe some one a little younger. Maybe Bobbie or Kitty." Logan nodded and stood to leave. "Oh, and Logan?" the Professor said before he could exit the room. "Also take Remy with you."  
  
"Gumbo?" Logan said, a bit surprised. "Why?"  
  
"I believe he has had some experience with the dangers you will be facing in the area."  
  
"Yeah?" Logan asked, a skeptical look on his face. "And where, exactly, is the 'area'?"  
  
"Sunnydale, California."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
Sunnydale, California - Giles's Apartment~  
  
"So Buff, what kind of Hellmouthy fun can we look forward to tonight?" Xander said as he flopped down onto Giles's couch. "Vampires, werewolves and zombies, oh my?  
  
"Please, whelp, we don't need you gibberish." Spike said, contempt dripping from his voice. Xander just stuck out his tongue at him, unable to come up with a comeback.  
  
"Just a nest of Tregi-whatzit demons. No problem," Buffy answered, ignoring Spike as usual.  
  
"It's Treginatano, and big problem," Giles said. "They look like traditional Chinese dragons, only one fourth the size." He looked down at his translation notes for a second then continued. "They feed mainly from dead flesh-"  
  
"Bloody wonderful, that," Spike said, and received a nasty look from Buffy.  
  
Giles continued: "-but are not adverse to making the meat edible."  
  
Riley spoke up from the where he sat with Buffy perched in his lap. "So how big and how many are we talking here?"  
  
Giles looked back at his notes. "Each Treginatano is about three to four feet long, and a nest has at least fifteen members, but no more than twenty." He looked up and the rest of the group, worry lines etched in his forehead. "And they can fly."  
  
"Great. Twenty mini-dragons from hell, literally." Xander said in a fake- cheery tone. More seriously: "How do we kill them? Will slice and dice work or do we need something a little more specific?"  
  
"No, no. 'Slice and dice,' as you so delicately put it, will suffice. The demons are completely mortal. A simple beheading should do."  
  
"Cool!" Xander said. "Do I get a machete?"  
  
"NO!" seven voices yelled out in unison.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
Westchester, New York - Xavier Institute for Gifted Youth~  
  
"Frosty, Kitty, Gumbo, suit up." Logan announced as he marched into the main living room of the X-Man Mansion. "We're goin' on a hintin' trip."  
  
"What for, Mon ami?" Remy asked as he stood and shrugged into his trench- coat. "Some lovely damsel in distress, maybe?"  
  
"Naw, new mutant. Now hurry up," Logan growled and left the room.  
  
"Why d'ya think he's, like, bringing us?" Kitty whispered to Bobby.  
  
"The new mutant is probably just a teenager. The Prof. most likely wants someone a little closer to the kid's age than Wolvie," Bobby replied, then also stood. "Come on. We'd better get ready or he'll be mad at us." And they headed to the gear locker.  
  
Later on the Blackbird...  
  
"Homme, where dis mutant be hidin' anyway?" asked Gambit. He was slightly curious as to why he was in on this trip.  
  
"Sunnydale, California. Charles said you knew something about the place," Wolverine growled.  
  
"Merde." Gambit breathed. "Oui, Gambit know about de Hellmouth."  
  
"Hellmouth?" Iceman asked quietly. "That doesn't sound good."  
  
"It not, Mon ami. It not.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
Sunnydale, California - Restful Hills Cemetery~  
  
SWOOSH!!  
  
CLANG!!  
  
ROOOOOOOAAAAAR!!  
  
"Giles!" Buffy yelled. "I don't remember you mentioning anything about these thing breathing fire!" She swung her battle axe like a baseball bat, cleaving serpentine bodies left and right.  
  
"The text didn't mention it! I'm guessing that no one has ever survived long enough to document it!" Giles yelled back, swinging his broadsword in continuous arcs. "I will be sure to make a not of it. If we survive."  
  
"You know, sarcastically speaking, you are a great motivational speaker." Xander swung upward with his short sword, severing a neck in the process. "I feel like I could go on like this all night long. Did I mention that the bodily fluids of these things *stink*?"  
  
"Many times, Xander," Buffy replied. "Many times."  
  
"I'm not," HACK!! "Even getting," HACK!! "Bloody well," CLUNCK!! "Paid for this!" A screech sounded as Spike pulled his fire axe from the sarcophagus lid he had imbedded it in. "Buggers are getting their rank juices all over my duster."  
  
Xander watched as the mini-dragons kept coming. For every one that was chopped down, three more flew up to replace it.  
  
"G-man! Thought there were only gonna be twenty of these things!" Xander waited for a reply, but there was none. "Giles?"  
  
Xander looked over to where he had last seen the man, and saw him almost overwhelmed with the demons. Xander looked around frantically at his friends. Buffy, Giles and Riley were trapped in a corner, cuts littering their arms as they continued to fight at the enemy. Tara, Willow, and, surprisingly enough, Spike were huddled under a magical barrier against one wall. The two witches looked pretty worn out, and already their force field was starting to fail.  
  
Unnoticed by anyone, as Xander's anxiety over his friends grew, the shadows in the crypt began to move and flow, slithering silently across the stone.  
  
Suddenly, a tendril of shadow shot from the floor, slicing cleanly through five of the dragons cornering Buffy and Giles. Two more wisps of shadow attacked the dragons trying to break through Willow and Tara's shield spell. Soon the air was filled with the squeals of the demons as, with the help of the shadows, their numbers finally began to abate.  
  
The last dragon left in the air flew at Xander, in a last ditch effort to do some damage. Xander raised his arms to his face in an instinctive defense, and closed his eyes. Next thing he knew, there was a sickening CRUNCH!! as the demon slammed into the wall behind him.  
  
Xander open his eyes and looked down at his hands. They had turned black and slightly translucent, Xander could see the dusty stone floor through his palms. As he watched, the black receded down his arms. Pretty soon his hands looked and felt as normal as ever. Xander looked up at his friends' astonished faces.  
  
"I did that," he whispered, just before exhaustion took him, and he fainted.  
  
~~~~~~~~*  
  
In-flight - Somewhere in North America - Aboard the Blackbird~  
  
"You're, like, kidding, right?" Shadowcat said. "I mean, demons, like, don't exist... Do they?"  
  
"Non, cher. Dey exist," Gambit said sighing sadly.  
  
"So, Cajun, how do you know 'bout them? You get intimate with one of them?" Wolverine smirked.  
  
"Non, homme, Gambit was just travilin'. T'ought Sunnydale wo' be a quiet place to rest for a week or two. Mon Dieu, was Gambit wrong."  
  
"What happened?" Bobbie asked, apprehension creeping into his voice. Something able to scare Gambit like that was something worth avoiding.  
  
"Walked into de wrong bar for a drink. T'ought day was jus' mutants, but day weren't no mutants. Day was demons." Gambit sighed again. He remembered the night vividly. He had left before the sun could set again. "Gambit don' really want to talk about it non more. Just know dat dis place be crawling wit the supernatural, and dey not all nice."  
  
The Blackbird flew on silently, as the passengers contemplated their latest world view tilt. Demons were real. The things that go bump in the night existed.  
  
Shadowcat broke the stunned silence. "Um, ok, Wolvie? Do you have, like, the name of the kid? Location? *Gender*?" she said, slightly frantic to change the subject.  
  
Wolverine grunted affirmation. "Yeah. Alexander Harris, age eighteen, Prof. said we could find him at this address," he said pointing at a digital map on the control panel. "There's a cemetery a few blocks off where I can land. But we'll have to hurry if this place is a dangerous as Gumbo says it is. Go in, convince the kid to come with us, get out, hopefully before the sunsets again."  
  
BEEP!! BEEP!!  
  
"Approaching target destination," said a mechanical female voice. Wolverine took up the yoke to control the landing.  
  
"Let's just hope the kid will come with us."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
Sunnydale, California - Giles's apartment~  
  
Xander groaned softly as he returned to full consciousness, and tried to open his eyes. Tried being the operative word. The light hurt his eyes, and they snapped shut again. He groaned a little louder this time hoping to draw someone in to help him.  
  
It worked. Xander felt someone sit next to his head on the lumpy couch he had somehow ended up on. He herd Willow shush him when he tried to sit up, and felt her brush his hair out of his face as she pulled his head into her lap.  
  
"How are you feeling, Xander?" she asked.  
  
"Did anyone get the license plate of the truck that ran me over? Twice?" Xander tried to give Willow a reassuring smile, but only succeeded in moaning in pain when he tried to open his eyes again.  
  
"What's wrong? Xander, are you ok?" Worry was steadily rising in her voice.  
  
"Too bright," he said. He tried to sit up again. "Hurts my eyes." Willow let him this time, and softly asked Buffy to hit the lights.  
  
The room dimmed and Xander tried to open his eyes again. They stayed open. He looked over to Willow and gave her a weary smile. "Thanks, Wills."  
  
Willow gasped slightly, putting her hand to her mouth.  
  
"What now, Will? Horns? Gills? Bad hair?" Xander put his hand to his hair.  
  
"Your eyes..." Willow said, pointing at his face.  
  
Xander spun around, asking a silent question of Buffy and Giles. Buffy's eyes widened and her mouth opened, but no sound came out. Giles just blinked, took his glasses off, cleaned them, put them back on and blinked some more.  
  
When Xander got no answers from them, he got up and shakily walked to the bathroom. He looked in the mirror, and couldn't believe what he saw.  
  
Xander's eyes were black.  
  
Not just black. Black hole black. His pupils. Irises. The whites of his eyes weren't white anymore. Black. All black. Black like the shadows earlier that night...  
  
"Oh Gods, what's happening to me?" Xander sat on the edge of the bath tub and put his face in his hands. What kind of horror had the Hellmouth thrown at him this time?  
  
"Xander?" Buffy said from the doorway. Xander wanted to look up at her, see her face. But he didn't want her to have to look into his black, demon eyes. Traitors in his own face. "Xander, are you ok?"  
  
"Yeah, just peachy. My life has just been turned upside down yet again." Xander sighed, staring at the stained linoleum. Everything seemed shaper, the colors more intense.  
  
Xander looked up and noticed for the first time that, though he could see with perfect clarity, in perfect detail, he had never turned on the bathroom light. What must have been pitch black to Buffy, was bright as day to Xander. Weird.  
  
A knocking came from the front room. They ignored it. Buffy sat next to Xander on the tub and reached for his hand. "Xander, it's ok. We're here for you. We'll find something to help you. I swear it."  
  
"I know. I know you all are. It's just... Why me?" he said. A deranged laugh erupted from his throat. "Why is it always me? There must me something about me, Alexander Harris, that attracts the supernatural like the demon magnet I am."  
  
"Xander?" Giles's voice drifted in from the hallway. "Are you in here?"  
  
"Yeah, Giles, We're here." Xander and Buffy stood and returned to the main room.  
  
"There appears to me some people here to see you, Xander," Giles said.  
  
"Wow, whelp, ain't you popular," Spike interjected.  
  
"Buzz off, Spike," Buffy said threateningly. "Xander is off limits for right now, ok?"  
  
"Fine, fine, what ever you say, *Slayer*." He her title like it was a curse word.  
  
"Thanks Buff." Xander went over to the couch and got a pair of sunglasses from his bag to cover his eyes, and went to see who the hell could be at the door... for him.  
  
He paused on his way there. "Where are Tara and Riley?"  
  
"They had to leave a little while before you woke up," Willow replied. "Classes."  
  
"Oh. Well better not keep them waiting." Xander continued to the door.  
  
He walked out the door and nearly closed it behind him. Four people stood outside waiting for him. A tall man in a leather trench coat wearing sunglasses that reminded him vaguely of Spike, but for the reddish brunette hair; a shorter, burlier man with lots of hair, a flannel shirt and torn jeans; a girl and a guy that looked to be not much younger than Xander.  
  
"You Alexander Harris?" the burly man said. That earned him an elbow in the gut from the girl.  
  
"Logan, be nice!" She turned to Xander. "Hi! My name's Kitty Pryde. The grump behind me is Logan." She pointed to the tall brunette. "Remy Lebeau, and Bobby Drake." the other teenager. "You are Alexander, right?" Kitty asked as she stuck out her hand. "Be a shame for us to have come all this way and you not even be the guy were looking for, right?" She smiled blindingly.  
  
Xander nodded and took her hand. "Yeah, call me Xander." He was just a bit surprised. Yeah he knew their names, but he still didn't know who they were. He decided to just come out and say it. "Um, why, exactly are you here? Looking for me?"  
  
The guy next to Kitty, Bobby, explained. We're representatives of Professor Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youth. We were in formed that you were a..." Bobby paused and thought for a second. "Well, I really don't know how to say this, but-"  
  
"You're a mutant, bub," Logan said with utter lack of decorum.  
  
"Uh, thanks Logan, I think." Bobby sounded half irritated at the man, half relieved he didn't have to tell.  
  
"A mutant." Xander just stood there for a second, then chuckled. "Huh, well that explains a lot about the last few hours. If not more."  
  
Trench Coat Man, Remy, spoke for the first time in a thickly French accented voice. "Like wha', homme?"  
  
"It explains how I was able to kill, say, fifty or so mini-dragon-like demons that were attacking me and my friends earlier tonight. Oh, and this." Xander took off his sunglasses to reveal his black eyes.  
  
Judging that the biggest reaction he got from them was Kitty whispering: "That is, like, soooooo cool!" Xander knew that they were used to this sort of thing.  
  
"So like, what are your powers?" Kitty asked earnestly, bouncing on the balls of her feet.  
  
Xander smiled at her enthusiasm. She reminded him of Dawn. "I'm not exactly sure, But it has something to do with shadows." Xander slipped his shades back on and looked around at everybody still standing around on Giles's front porch. "How rude of me. Giles!"  
  
Xander pushed against the front door. There was a scramble inside as the door opened. The entire Scoobie gang had, apparently, been pressed up to the door, eavesdropping on whole the conversation.  
  
"Oooooooookey, I'm guessing you all heard the fantastic news that my predicament is not Hellmouth related." Xander smirked at them. Even Spike looked slightly guilty from his position leaning against the wall beside the door.  
  
"Do you think my new friends could come in? It's kind of cold out there."  
  
Giles's head jerked up. He took of his glasses and rubbed at them. "Y-yes, of course!" He walked over to the door. "Please, come in."  
  
Bobby and Kitty walked in and took a seat on the newly vacated couch. Remy stayed standing, gazing around the place. Logan, however, paused just inside the door. His nostrils flared as he sniffed the air, and he turned and looked at Spike.  
  
"You're not human."  
  
Spike took out a cigarette and, ignoring the scathing look from Giles, lit it. "Yeah? And why would you say a thing like that, mate?" he said rather nonchalantly.  
  
There was a sound of metal scraping against metal, and Logan raised his fist. There were now three long, very sharp looking, silver claws pointed at Spike's jugular.  
  
"You smell dead."  
  
Spike snickered and gently brushed the claws aside. "That would be because I am, you wanker. Well, undead to be exact. One on the main drawbacks of being a vampire y'know. Anyway," Spike glanced at the claws sticking out of the backs of Logan's hand and smirking. "you're not looking too human lately either."  
  
Logan growled and raised his arm as if to take a swipe at Spike, but Remy stops him. "Non need for violence, homme. I said dey ain't all good, bu' day ain't all bad, either." Remy looked directly at Spike. "'Specially dis one. He save Remy's life. A long time ago."  
  
At Remy's name, Spike looks at him, trying to see behind the mirror shades. He'd only known one person by that name. "Remy?" he said, awe filling his voice. "Remy Lebeau?"  
  
"Oui, mon ami." Remy took off his sunglasses and smiled at Spike, revealing haunted red-on-black eyes.  
  
"There's those demon eyes I remember!" Spike walked up to Remy and gave his a quick but manly hug that Remy returned heartily. By the time they were finished, both of them were grinning like mad.  
  
"Allrighty, *you* two obviously have history," Willow said laughingly. "Wanna come sit down and tell the group aaaall about it, hmm?"  
  
Everyone found a seat, be it on a couch or the edge of a coffee table. Xander looked to Spike. "So, the Big Bad saved a life? Versus saving one?"  
  
"Enough, mutant Whelp," Spike said, but smiled to take the bite out of the insult. "He started it."  
  
Everybody but Remy and Spike looked baffled. "And how, precisely, did he do that?" Giles asked.  
  
"Prague, he saved me and Dru from a mob, Dru mumbled something about the stars singing to her, not wanting me to kill him, so I didn't." Spike shrugged. "They'd never been wrong before."  
  
"Ok," Buffy said, "We see how he started it. He saved you and Drusilla from the Lynch mob that was after you. How did you save him? 'Cause that's what he said."  
  
"Bout a week later," Spike answered. "Remy being a mutant got out, and he got cornered by a lynch mob. I broke a few spines and got him out. 'An eye for an eye' and all that. Been best of mates ever since." Spike smiled and threw an arm around the mutant's shoulders.  
  
Everyone's attention was now focused on Spike and Remy.  
  
Xander was just a bit envious of the two. He waved his hand in the air trying to catch someone's attention. "Hello?" he asked. "Attentions back to me." His actions successful, Xander turned to Kitty, the mutant's apparent spokeswoman. "So, you're here, I'm here, we all know I'm not as human as I thought I was... what I want to know now is..." He looked from one mutant to another and addressed them all. "What now?"  
  
The four's faces fell just a bit. "Well, ya see..." Kitty said. "We were sent here by Professor Xavier to, um, find you and bring you back with us so that you could be trained to use your new powers-"  
  
"Wait," Buffy and Xander said simultaneously. They looked at each other and Buffy motioned for Xander to continue. Xander nodded. It was his problem after all. He turned back to Kitty. "What do you mean, 'take me back with you?' Take me back where?" Buffy and Willow nodded their agreement.  
  
Bobby fielded that question. "To the Professor's Institute in New York to be-"  
  
At that, four voices cried out and it was pandemonium. The Scoobies and, surprisingly Spike, started yelling their indignation. Phrases like, "New York?!" "You can't take him!" "New York?!" "If you even try, I'll-!" "New York?!" were thrown around the room like spaghetti in a food fight.  
  
A high pitched whistle pierced the air of the room and all noise stopped. Everyone looked to the source of the sound to find Giles standing on the near side of the bar with a glass of amber liquid clutched in his hand. "Thank you. You were giving me a bloody head ache." {Ooohh, hello Ripper}, Xander thought. "Now you," he pointed at the Scoobies. "Sit, shut up, listen, and don't interrupt. And you," he turned towards the mutants. "Explain why you will be taking one of my charges to, of all places, New York."  
  
Everyone sat in a stunned silence for a moment and even Logan looked a little amazed at Giles's change in mood. Kitty took the initiative and broke yet another silence. "Well, as Bobby said, the Institute is in New York, Westchester to be exact, and the Professor wanted us to, like, bring you back with us so that you can be trained to control your new powers. Umm..." She looked around the room. "is there anything, like, specific that you want to know?" She gave everyone a nervous smile.  
  
Xander raised his hand like he was in a classroom. "Uh, yeah. How long would I be there for?"  
  
"As long as it takes for you to get a hold on your powers." Bobby shrugged. "Could be anywhere from two months to two years. If you're worried about housing, we already have a room set aside for you at the Institute for however long you need it."  
  
Xander was waiting for the other shoe to drop. There had to be a catch, it sounded to good to be true. Ad on the Hellmouth, it usually is. "What kind of cost are we talking about here?" he said, praying it wasn't too much, because his parents certainly wouldn't pay for him.  
  
"Cost?" Kitty said looking slightly perplexed. "Oh! Cost! No, no cost. The Professor is, like, all about new mutants getting the training they need so that they don't hurt themselves or others with their, like, inexperience." She smiled and looked a little smug at having remembered the whole speech.  
  
"Oh," Xander looked just a little surprised. "Wow, free room, board and training. Cool." Xander paused, looking pensive. "So, um, when do you guys expect to leave? Do I have time to pack and..." He looked over at Willow, Buffy and Spike. "say my goodbyes?"  
  
"Of course! Duh, much? But, uh, I think Logan wants to leave before sundown." She looked a little sorry at that. "Don't want to run into anything that goes bump in the night."  
  
"Trust me, we understand." Xander turned to Willow and spread his arms. "Will, do you still love me?"  
  
"*Yes*, you dumb ass," she said as she ran into his arms and hugged him tight. "Don't you ever think otherwise."  
  
They broke apart. "Well I'm gonna go over to my place and get some stuff, money, clothes and the like. Say goodbye to the 'rents." Xander grabbed his bag and was out the door into the sunlight.  
  
Spike looked out at the bright courtyard. "Bugger. I'm stuck here with you all bloody day."  
  
~~~~~~~~~*  
  
Xander returned after a few hours later, having made his peace and relocating all his worldly possessions, which didn't take long. His parents weren't home, so he just left them a note saying he'd be out of town for a while. He doubted they would care much anyway.  
  
Xander walked into Giles's apartment, with out knocking, to find the Scoobies and the mutants in almost the same positions, except for Remy and Spike who were standing off in a corner, probably reminiscing about bloody days of yor. Giles had calmed down and was drinking tea with Willow and Buffy. Bobby and Kitty were sitting on the couch talking and laughing, and Logan was in one of the chairs siting with his eyes closed in what looked like meditation.  
  
"You ready to go yet, kid?" Logan said with out even opening his eyes. Everyone looked up, noticing Xander for the first time.  
  
Willow ran over to him and wrapped him in a tight hug. Xander's eyes began to tear-up behind his sunglasses. "You had better call me everyday. Or, at least at first. And you write to me. Every week." Ah, Willow-babble.  
  
"I'm gonna miss you, Wills. Miss you so much." Willow's tears were soaking into his shirt, but he didn't care; by *his* now tears were flowing freely from under his glasses, coating his cheeks with salty moisture. Buffy joined in, hugging them both from the side. The three way embrace broke into sniggles and furious swipes at wet faces. Giles walked over and shook his hand, a slightly watery smile on his face. "Have a safe journey and... do come back to us."  
  
Xander smiled at Giles and nodded. "You got it G-man." Giles winced at the nickname, but didn't comment. "Like I would leave two such lovely young ladies to fend for them selves for long. Take care of Willow, and I know you'll watch over Buffy." He turned to follow Kitty and Remy out the front door, but stopped next to the vampire leaning against the wall.  
  
"Spike." Over the period that Spike was forced to stay in Xander's basement home, and all the times they had saved each others lives, they had become friend almost out of necessity. Xander saw the blond as, if not a friend, then something very close.  
  
"Whelp," Spike said indifferently. Xander could just pick out the slight emotion in his voice, but only because he was looking for it. He nodded once down, once up, and continued walking into the sunlit courtyard, Logan and Bobby in toe.  
  
Xander looked back one last time as they left Giles's patio. His Scoobie family stood in the doorway. Xander gave one last sad smile, and a sad wave farewell, and was gone. 


End file.
